UN General Assembly, defying Trump, rejects US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

The symbolic vote by the General Assembly is actually not legally binding. The U.N. Security Council failed to adopt a similar resolution on Monday after the U.S. vetoed the measure. Security Council decisions carry the force of international law.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticized the United States on Thursday for “bullying.”

Following the vote, he posted a message on Twitter saying the international community had “Once more showed in which dignity along with sovereignty are not for sale.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. mission pushed back on those saying the vote was a rebuke.

“While the resolution passed, the vote breakdown tells a different story,” the spokesperson told NBC News. “the item’s clear in which many countries prioritized their relationship with the United States over an unproductive attempt to isolate us for a decision in which was our sovereign right to make.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a message on Twitter thanking Trump along with Haley. He said in which he appreciated “the fact in which a growing number of countries refused to participate in This kind of theater of the absurd.”

Hanan Ashrawi, member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said in a statement posted to the organization’s website in which the PLO was “extremely encouraged along with empowered by the vote.”

“Despite American efforts to safeguard Israeli violations along with war crimes, the majority maintained their principled position while a minimal number succumbed by abstaining or voting against the resolution,” she said.

The nine countries in which voted against the resolution were Israel, the United States, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Togo, Honduras along with Guatemala.

Among the 35 countries in which abstained were U.S. allies Australia, Canada, Mexico along with Poland.